Rave today gone tomorrow

I've just returned from the 15th Anniversary Rockabilly Rave, I cannot believe how quick it's been and gone, unfortunately I thought it wasn't one of the best, it had a strange ol' kind of atmosphere going on, not to say that I didn't enjoy it, it was the Rave of course I did! But it was just a bit flat for me I think, but never mind I had a lot to drink, spent far too much money on clothes and burgers and overall had a giggle!  Here's a few pics of the outfits I wore over the few days

Wearing my vintage Hawaiian sarong dress with friends Graham and Julie, this dress
I bought at Hemsby a couple of years ago and was a bit of a tight squeeze, pity it didn't bring the sunshine out! I thought my flask matched quite well though don't you think?

Vintage one shouldered Aqua embroidered dress made from what looks to be Sari fabric with my fella,
we didn't mean to be matching but I think he scrubs up well when he wants to!  When I first bought this dress it was in a sorry state and also nearly was again when the shoulder ripped so I had to change quick!

Sunday night with the ladies wearing my vintage green halterneck

pencil dress and matching jacket, completely a play it safe outfit for me!

Unfortunately I didn't get to see a lot of the bands because I was too busy eating most of the times or shopping, yes I'll say shopping that's what us girls do! But the bands I did see were super, The Rhythm Shakers on Thursday night probably would have to be the top one of the weekend for me, I've loved these guys and girls for a while now and the rave was the first time I had got to see them, the rest of the wild records artists topped the bill on the Sunday night to a great response from the crowd and of course Saturday showed us the Inferno's( my all time favourite band!) and The Bellfuries who I had doubts about because they only played the rave last year but they blew us away again, the singers voice still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end!

I managed to pick up a few bits and bobs over the weekend including another pair of Capri pants in a beautiful aqua colour... I have 9 pairs now!! I will be able to stop wearing my jeans soon! A lovely printed circle skirt from the Car boot... Yes I managed to get up for the car boot, the first weekend in god knows how many years but I did it! Unfortunately everyone else had the same idea so it was heaving but I came away with my skirt so I was content when I went back to bed. I also bought a vintage white jewellery set and black beaded sweater, good weekend buys I'd say!
I generally had a blast this weekend spending time with close friends and making new ones.
I apologise for this post being a bit short and is a general overview, I'm finding it quite difficult to get motivated at the moment so am running low on ideas but as soon as I get one you lot will be in for a treat!
Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx

1950s pin up girls ... At Hemsby!

So this time last weekend I was finishing Hemsby 46 off with a bang, what a blast it was, apart from managing to drink practically a bottle of Sailor J's to myself on the first night and it reappearing the next morning which I have to say, I don't intend on doing until the next one at least... But Yes it was a superb weekend. Hemsby is like a home from home to me, I've been going since no. 39 and each time is different because of the people, the bands and the atmosphere.

This time was just as great as the last 8 (oh my gosh has it really been that many!!) I have been to. I cannot tell you how nice it was to catch up with friends I hadn't seen in what seemed like forever! I'm not going to go in depth about it all because frankly 1. I don't want to bore you all with a review of every single band I saw and 2. Most of it has just become a blur now like most weekenders tend to do after a while!

But a few highlights for me were: turning up on the Thursday to see my face all over the Hemsby 47 flyer!(that's right Octobers weekend!)

Photography by Dominic Fenn

Now I've been published in a few magazines and I've never really seen it as a wow factor but this was something quite surreal because my face was EVERYWHERE!!! on every table, on every windowsill, on stalls, my gosh! But a massive thank you to the fabulous Andy Brittan who asked me if he could do this, because he wanted someone different on the cover!

 Apparently he wants to do this with each pin up contest winner, which I think is such a great idea! It'll give a lot of girls more publicity!

Which leads me onto my second highlight of the weekend

Judging the 2011 Hemsby/Outerlimitz Pin up Contest!

Because of winning the first ever one last year (yes a whole year, can you believe it??) I had the great pleasure of being one of the judges for this years contest, alongside the gorgeous and lovely Miss Jessica Orbit  , singer of Jessie and the Orbits and a fantastic model, Julie Cooper of Big Girl's Blouse and Mr Levi Dexter himself (for those of you don't know, Bernie Dexter's singer husband! and a truly lovely man!)

What a fabulous judging panel wouldn't you say, it was a great honour to be beside these lovelies on the comfy sofas watching some stunners strut their stuff! I tell you what those girls sure had some balls, I remember doing it last year and how scary it was, so I made sure I gave the girls some encouragement before they went on, according to Di from Outerlimitz  it was really appreciated which is nice to hear!!

Of course I made sure I had bought a brand new (well brand new vintage that is) dress for the occasion, every girl needs a Saturday night dress at a weekender and I made sure I had that, a summery, green and white Hawaiian 1960s maxi dress, rather special some of you might say, I would have to say that too!

Julie, Myself and Bernie all looking rather Flowery (Bernie in her Scarlett dress  she named after me)But back to the girls of the contest, it really was hard to choose the winner but eventually after seeing 9 girls prance around the stage showing their perfectly pin up poses the winner was to be Pip Love, a true vintage fanatic and a super girl! With two runners up being Miss Cherrie Mae and Carrie Hope (a little pin  up in the making I think).

Don't they look brilliant? (Photo's courtesy of Ruth Archer, I hope you don't mind me pinching these few)

Bernie, Miss Hemsby 2011 and me (Miss Hemsby 2010 hehe)

A super way to get Saturday night started I'd say!
The rest of the weekend was just amazing, one of the most famous modern day pin ups graced us with her presence and that would be of course Bernie Dexter, it was so nice to see her, I did get to spend some time with her and Levi over the weekend and it was lovely having a chat about everything from modelling to swollen feet and barfing alcohol (see the famous ones do it too!!)

Me, Bernie and Miss Stefani Jay, another great gal!!
I did notice this year there was a very strong pin up vibe through out the weekend, with a lot of other models I know off face book,model mayhem etc turning up, which is great to see because it's obviously getting them involved in the rockabilly scene which can only be a good thing! A lot of these girls are true beaut's and it was so nice for even one of them (Ronnie) to come up and say hello because she was following me on face book!! Yes a little claim to fame there!! So for any of you vintage girls who want to know what the rockin scene is all about and to have a great weekend, take a trip on down to Hemsby in October where you'll see me staggering around or hogging the dance floor, and of course my mush on the programme.. You know I'm honestly surprised I didn't see one on a dart board or with a mustache drawn on! Heaven forbid!

But for now I'll leave you with a image from Thursday night events,

a girl, a bike, and a whole lot of rum ...
Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx

The Rhythm Riot 2010

It seems a life time ago now but it's only been a couple of weeks! Yes ladies and gents the Rhythm Riot has come and gone again for this year and what a blast it was, even if a tad on the chilly side!

This year it was my first ever Rhythm Riot, can you believe it?! I certainly can't! I was always a bit hesitant about going because being a bit of a  rockabilly/rock n roll girl, I thought there wouldn't be much for me to dance to! How wrong could someone be?

I saw the line up a few months ago and thought I'd best get my bum in gear and book up! I even managed to convince my parents to go as so it was their first one too!

I don't know what I was expecting, I suppose I thought I wouldn't enjoy it because I expected it to be heavily 1940s influenced with Lindy hoppers everywhere, the only thing I knew was that it would be blooming cold! I Certainly got that right, so I packed my sweaters and away I went. I turned up with my folks on the Friday afternoon and noticed straight away how different it was from other weekenders, probably because I'm so used to turning up on the Thursday! I booked in, dropped my stuff off to the ever so ever so cold chalet which seemed a million miles away, further than my one in the summer at the Rockabilly Rave, was that possible???

First port of call, well of course the vintage clothes stalls! Unfortunately though I couldn't have a proper look around because it seemed that everyone else had the same idea and also headed for them, however I did manage to pick up a vintage yellow checked 49er jacket!!

As the day went by, the sun was going down which meant we better start getting ready so back to the chalet we went. I decided the night before to pin curl my hair, which was my first ever attempt and you know it didn't turn out half bad! I decided to wear my blue Hawaiian dress made for me by Di from Outerlimitz.

Me and my girls Laura and Clare

Now I'm going to be honest here, I can't quite remember some of the bands that played Friday night as I imagine I was slightly intoxicated, my excuse was I was keeping the cold out with all that vodka! I do remember one band and that was Lil Linn and the Lookout boys, I didn't see much of them unfortunately as I forgot my pass when I went back the chalet (I'm sorry but this is where wrist bands come in mighty handy!) But of what I did see they were a fabulous band with a mix of western swing, hillbilly and early rockabilly with a beautiful lady belting out some tunes! I got a text from my friend who I was sharing my chalet with telling me I must go back to the chalet right away, so I did and how sweet of them, they had blown up balloons and got me a very early birthday cake!(Chocolate of course) what a brilliant start to the weekend!! so after having lots of hugs and cake I went back to do some dancing!

I woke up the next day without a hangover which is always good! I had another wander around the stalls and as the day was going on I headed to the queen Vic(no puns please) to watch a band known as the Ladykillers, now I'd heard a lot about these because they were young and up and coming, so I was looking forward to seeing them. I wasn't disappointed, young and full of energy they were very modern  rockabilly and definitely got the crowd going who seemed more then happy with their performance! I am hoping to see them in December when I am back home at the Star fighter Rock n roll club.
The evening came by again, mum and dad headed out early and I spent what seemed like forever deciding what to wear, eventually choosing a vintage aqua wiggle dress.

A image that photographer Ophelia Wynne took of me showing off my dress i wore that night and my lovely vintage 60s wicker handbag

Me and my man scrub up nice don't you think?

 First band I saw, and the only band that I wanted to see was the Cleftones, a doo wop band from the 50s &60s singing songs like their classics Heart & Soul and Can't we be sweethearts, amazing, that's all I can describe them as, since being with my fella I've become a little bit Doo wop obsessed so we both really enjoyed them even though he'd seen then at previous riots.

The Cleftones!!

Next band up was Si Cranstoun, now everyone must have heard of him and his dance floor filler Dynamo? Once again I wasn't quite sure what to expect because he was one half of the Ska band the Dualers, which to me was fine because I am partial to a bit of ska every now and then but I was wondering whether he'd be able to do a full set of rock n roll tracks, but yes wrong again he did tracks such as Don't be angry by Nappy Brown and also got Bobby Brooks Hamilton on stage with him to sing Sam Cook's twisting the night away! I would keep on about the bands of Saturday night but I fear this blog may turn into a bit of a essay! However I will say other top bands of the night were Big Sandy, Lil Gizelle and Dollar Bill!

Big Sandy!

Dollar Bill

The final day of course was Sunday, I told myself that I would go to the car boot, but why lie? I never manage to drag myself out of bed even for a bargain,but what I eventually did drag myself out for was my parents buying me a fab gab (oo bit of rhyming there) jacket as an early birthday present and my fella getting me a beautiful vintage green day dress for Christmas, how spoilt can a girl be? Now on a Sunday night at the Riot was Hawaiian night, fortunately I knew this in advanced so I came prepared with my vintage red Hawaiian dress that I Purchased at Hemsby.

Me in my hawaiian and my man in his vintage pegs and shirt

Now there were only a couple of bands I payed attention to Sunday night and these were Bobby Brooks Hamilton (who is allegedly Jackie Wilson's son but I am very unsure!) and Mike Sanchez, Bobby Brooks looked and sounded like Jackie Wilson so was very entertaining however I thought he could of sung a lot more of Wilson's more popular tracks than some covers he did. Mike Sanchez was awesome as ever, you always know what you're getting from Mike!

The highlights of that night was Big Sandy recognising me (yes not the other way round!) and having a lovely chat with him and just having a brilliant end to the weekend with great Dj's playing some fab floor fillers!
I couldn't get enough of this weekend, it was right up my street because it was mainly 50s RnB which is what I love! it was relaxed and a lot of my good friends were there the only thing I didn't like was the fact it was only Friday- Sunday instead of Thursday-Sunday, it seemed like a lot was squeezed into such a short weekend! And also the fact it was so cold, but hey you can't change the weather can you? 

Any one of you out there who are thinking about trying out the Riot I highly recommend it!!

Until Next Time

Toodle Pip

xxx